Grey Group has appointed Ali Shabaz, who has been the Chief Creative Officer for its Southeast Asia region, to takeover as Chief Creative Officer for Grey Middle East. The move comes as the position opens up with the exit of Mike Shackle, who had joined the agency as MENA CCO in July 2015, to “pursue other interests”.
In his new role, Mr Shabaz will be based in Dubai and will report to Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa. M
As one of Asia’s most awarded creative directors with over 20 years of experience, Mr Shabaz has played a major role in lifting the creative profile of Grey since joining the agency from JWT in 2010. In the last seven years, his work has been recognized at every major award show globally, with over 30 wins across Cannes, Webbys, FWA Awards, D&AD, Effies, AMEs, Spikes (3 Grands Prix), and One Show. He has been selected for numerous jury panels including Cannes (Design, Press, and Outdoor), D&AD, Spikes, Adfest and Facebook Awards.
Mr Shabaz’ strength lies in guiding brands to success in the digital, mobile, social and shopper marketing space. Grey Group Singapore has been ranked among the top two creative agencies for the last three years and under his leadership it was the most awarded agency in Singapore at Cannes Lions 2015, and credited with winning the first-ever Innovation and Product Design Lions for Singapore. The agency also scooped the Digital Agency of The Year and the Creative Agency of the Year accolades at the Singapore Creative Circle Awards, 2015.
“Ali is highly experienced and has tackled creative work across numerous industries and geographies. Under his leadership in the Middle East we are looking to further bolster our creative output and Ali will play an instrumental role in this process. I am confident he will bring the same dedication, vast knowledge and experience to his new role,” said Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa.
“It was truly an honor to be leading the creatives across Southeast Asia and working with some of the most talented people in the industry. I am excited about taking on the new role and creating brand experiences for our clients in the Middle East region,” added Mr Shabaz.
Mr Shabaz has worked with multiple brands, winning pitches across various industries including Qatar Airways -winning the airline its first Effie, Hotels.com, KFC, Wyeth, Grohe, Sentosa Development Corp, British Council, Lenovo, Work, Safety & Health Council of Singapore, Nutella, Kinder Bueno, Tic Tac, Quann Security (previously CISCO) and Vitagen. He spearheaded the latest Hong Kong Tourism Board campaign and has most recently driven the re-launch of Gillette’s Mach 3 razors in Indonesia.
